Got milk?

Anxious about when to stop breastfeeding. I know this is a rather personal topic and should be of no concern to anyone but mother and baby, but it's currently at the forefront of my mothering mind, so I believe it has a place on this blog.

Won’t go into it too much, except to say that Son’s nursing days are numbered and we are both pretty cut up about it. He doesn't understand why his favourite shop is now hanging a closed sign in his face and I'm the emotional shopkeeper who hates turning away her favourite (only) customer.

On the practical side, it just doesn’t get more convenient: a breastfeeding mom never has to worry about having enough milk or getting it the right temperature- not to mention how much money we save on formula! It’s also a miracle to be able to feed such perfectly nutritious milk to my baby wherever and whenever he needs it.

So why am I quitting? At least when a person quits smoking, drinking or drugs there is every reason to stop. In this case I’m finding it hard to rationalize. Son was exclusively breastfed for 4 months, then we introduced two solid meals and one formula bottle, then another solid meal and a few more occasional formula bottles. Now, at 7 months, I barely produce enough milk for two feeds a day. I’m even taking something to assist with milk production. It feels like the inevitable end of this part of my relationship with Son, this activity, this bonding experience, this expression of love, this miraculous daily event.

I was going to end this post by asking why it makes me feel so sad, but I guess all the adjectives in the previous sentence are my answer.

For now, even though Happy Hour is over, my little regular is still being allowed the odd drink on the house when he is really hankering after the good stuff. Hopefully we'll both just ease out of it without going cold turkey and neither of us will be needing any support groups...